After a dour World Cup that will not live long in the memory, the return of the Barclays Premier League is a welcome boost to English football and it's fans. Last year saw some entertaining games and saw competitive games making the league stronger. Here are my predictions for the season ahead and please make your own conclusions if you want to in the comment box below and see how your predictions compare to mine.
Title Winner: Chelsea hurts me to say it as a Man Utd fan but i can't for the life of me see Chelsea not winning the league. They're a big unit to play againgst and it's very hard to break them down. United, Arsenal and a revitalised Liverpool under Roy Hodgson will test Ancelotti's boys but Chelsea are the team to beat despite having a difficult pre-season.Chelsea's style of football particularly after they got knocked out by Inter Milan in the Champs League was derserving of a championship. They have a solid defence like United's but their midfield is far more bullying than ours and thats where games will be won this season. Essien back will help them out and although they've lost Ballack, Deco and Joe Cole signing Ramires and Benayoun (who aside from Pepe Reina, was Liverpool's best player last year) are good replacements.
Relegation: Blackpool, Wigan and as much as I like them Wolves. Blackpool look doomed even without the fact you add in that they've brought literally nobody. Had they not got promoted a question that's good is how many of their players would premiership clubs be interested in. Of the top of my head only one - Charlie Adam. Holloway's a nice chap and he'll be abit like how Gordon Strachan was in that the media will love him, but i will be surprised if they manage to get more than 27 points this season.
Wigan were lucky last year in that they were slowly looking like a relegated team after the new year. They won only 4 times after the new year and 2 of those were against Liverpool and Arsenal, which was a surprise. Martinez although a talented young manager i still feel does not have enough in the squad to keep them up.
Which leaves me finally to Wolves. As much as i like Mick McCarthy and the way that Wolves played last year which was spirited and hard-working. I fear that they will struggle. Stephen Hunt and Steven Fletcher are good signings but i think they will be the unlucky team. I'd like to be proven wrong but it'll be between Wolves and West Brom (ironically) for that last relegation place.
Top Scorer: Wayne Rooney. It'll either be him or Drogba but i can see Rooney nicking it this time. This year will be hard for him as he'll again do much of the bulk of the forward work for United, although i think Berbatov and Owen will help him out more. Rooney to win it by 1-2 goals. Tevez will also be up there as well.
Best Signing: Jermaine Beckford. Cud've gone with Javier Hernandez or Yaya Tour but i'll look past the title challenging teams. Beckford is somebody who will either be a massive hit in the league or a big flop. Everton have been screaming out for a centre forward who can help Louis Saha for goals. Yakubu will never be the same player, same goes for Anichebe after his injuries. Beckford i can see scoring 10-15 goals quite easily and will have a good season.
Worst Signing: David Silva. I'm not just saying this because i support United and we were linked with him and he went to City. I really do not think that Silva is as good a player as the media are making him out to be. He will struggle to keep hold of the ball in the EPL and is too lightweight. I also think for the money that City spent on him and the fact they've got 100's of players I don't think he'll play every game for them anyway. Stephen Ireland is a great player who if I was Mancini I would have him in the starting line up every game.
Surprise Package: Newcastle United. I don't think Newcastle will finish in the top 10, but i think they will suprise people by performing well when the pressure is on them. Sol Campbell is a good signing and will help inspire the youngsters. Dan Gosling for free is a bonus and with experienced guys like Nolan, Harper and Steven Taylor around there's no way Newcastle will struggle this year. Good mixture of youth and experience will probably finish around 13th.
Team To Struggle: Stoke City. Tony Pulis has done a great job at Stoke but there is trouble brewing in the squad and it'll be hard for them to replicate their brilliant first 2 years in the EPL. People will expect them to finish around 12-14th but i think they could struggle and be part of the relegation scrap until finally pulling clear in the backend of the season. Same could apply to Birmingham who will find life tougher this season but with some good signings like Zigic and Ben Foster in they should finish nicely in mid-table.
Ongoing Story Of Season: Anything to do with James Milner. Regardless whether he stays at Villa or goes to City where he'll warm the bench as often as he'll play there will be lots of pressure on him. England fans will expect him to have a great season and it may be tough for him. The kid has all the talent in the world and with Lampard/Gerrard coming towards the end of their peak the media and fans will be looking at a new England midfield superstar to celebrate and criticise. Milner will be headline news this year. If he stays at Villa there'll be the news that he's just hanging on till next year and if he goes to City there'll be people criticizing him for not staying at Villa and helping the team win trophies.
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